


Dust Bunny

by enigmaticblue



Series: Sun 'Verse [29]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Kittens, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 19:50:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5941045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enigmaticblue/pseuds/enigmaticblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean had never really thought of himself as a cat person.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dust Bunny

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thomasina75](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thomasina75/gifts).



> Look, this is basically totally domestic, unadulterated fluff. Also, I have two cats, and cats definitely choose their people. One of them prefers my husband, the other is a little less discriminating and seems to like me a little better. You just never know. Cats, man.

Dean had just settled into his chair with a sigh with an ice pack draped over his knee, which was aching like a bad tooth. “Storm’s probably coming,” he muttered to himself.

 

His bad leg was the most accurate prediction of the weather they had around these parts, although it wasn’t infallible.

 

Of course, nothing was truly infallible, particularly not these days.

 

He heard the front door open, and Dean thought about getting up for about two seconds before he decided it just wasn’t worth it.

 

And then Cas entered, and he was wearing an expression Dean knew all too well—just a little bit sheepish, which meant that whatever was about to come out of his mouth, he already knew Dean wouldn’t be a fan.

 

“In my defense,” he began, “there was only one left.”

 

Dean frowned. “One what?”

 

Cora burst into the room behind Cas, her arms around something small, gray, and fuzzy. “I named her Princess Fluffy!” she exclaimed, holding out the tiny kitten with two hands.

 

The kitten, dangling in midair, let out a small, plaintive mew.

 

Normally, Dean was pretty careful about what he said to his kids, but the words tumbled out of his mouth before he could think better of it. “It looks more like a dust bunny to me.”

 

Ryan, who had followed Cora into the living room, laughed out loud. “It _does_ look like a dust bunny! Like the ones under Casey’s bed!”

 

Cora made a face. “I guess.”

 

And that was how Dean ended up naming the kitten. In retrospect, he probably shouldn’t have been surprised at what happened next.

 

“Dust Bunny it is, then,” Cas said. “Why don’t you guys get her a saucer of milk?”

 

Dean gave Cas a sharp look when the kids had filed out. “Seriously? I thought we agreed no more indoor animals.”

 

Cas shrugged and scratched the back of his neck. “She was the last one left in a box in front of the grocery store. You would have done the same thing.”

 

Dean couldn’t argue with him, because he wasn’t sure he’d have made another choice. “True, but we agreed.”

 

“Cora made a very convincing argument that Scout is an indoor animal, and if Henry could have a dog, she should be able to have a cat,” Cas replied.

 

Dean raised an eyebrow. “Scout is a working animal. The barn cats are working animals.”

 

“And now we have an indoor cat,” Cas pointed out. “Who might still be a working animal by killing any rodents that get into the house.”

 

“We have mousetraps for that,” Dean replied.

 

Cas merely gave him a _look_ , and Dean sighed. “Fine, I get it. I probably wouldn’t have been able to say no either.”

 

“It’s a kitten, Dean,” Cas said. “How much trouble can one kitten be?”

 

~~~~~

 

It turned out that one kitten could be _a lot_ of trouble.

 

No matter how much Cora begged, they weren’t going to let her take Dust Bunny—or Dust, as everybody was calling her now—to Julia’s. That meant the kitten stayed home, usually with Dean, who had the thankless task of keeping Dust from doing all of the things that Dust believed it was absolutely imperative to do.

 

A ripping noise alerted Dean that Dust was doing something that she probably shouldn’t be doing, and he rushed out to the living room to find her halfway up the curtain hanging by her claws.

 

“Dust!” he called, exasperated. “What are you doing?”

 

“Mrow?” Dust replied, hanging in place.

 

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose. “Seriously? That’s the _third_ time with the curtains.”

 

“Mrow.” Dust didn’t move, apparently stuck, like the last two times she’d tried to climb the curtains. She seemed incapable of going past the halfway point, and yet determined to make it to the curtain rod.

 

Dean plucked her off the curtain and held her up in front of his face. “No more curtains for you.”

 

Dust purred.

 

Dean cradled her in his hands, feeling soft fur and delicate bones, and he marveled at how tiny and perfect she was—and then shook himself. He was _not_ going to get attached. He wasn’t a cat person.

 

“Stay off the curtains,” he ordered, and put her on the ground as he headed back to the kitchen.

 

He fixed himself a sandwich and then felt the pinpricks of tiny claws in his leg. When he looked down, Dust was halfway up his pant leg. “This is just like the curtains,” Dean said. “Also, I’m busy eating.”

 

Dust meowed at him and kept climbing, hitting Dean’s flannel shirt and scrambling up to his shoulder. Her tiny claws dug in to maintain her perch, and then she nuzzled Dean’s ear, purring like mad.

 

Dean softened. “Okay, well, I guess you can stay there.”

 

Dust rode his shoulder for the rest of the afternoon, and when the kids got back from Julia’s, Dean told himself that it wasn’t a pang of regret he felt when he handed Dust over to Cora.

 

He was absolutely _not_ getting attached.

 

“Are you still upset about the kitten?” Cas asked that night.

 

Dean snorted. “She keeps trying to climb the curtains, Cas!”

 

“The curtains should probably be replaced anyway,” Cas replied.

 

“You’re not the one who has to keep her from clawing the curtains and the furniture,” Dean grumbled.

 

Cas chuckled. “Uh huh. And she wasn’t riding around on your shoulder all day.”

 

“Well, not _all_ day,” Dean said.

 

Cas kissed him sleepily. “Sure, Dean.”

 

Dean was pretty sure Cas didn’t believe a word of it.

 

~~~~~

 

Somewhat ironically, Dust didn’t appear to care for Cora’s company, although maybe that wasn’t a huge surprise. Cora wanted to dress Dust up in doll clothes and have tea parties, and mostly thought that Dust should do exactly what Cora wanted at all times.

 

Dust, for her part, quickly grew skilled at hiding from Cora, only emerging when she was outside or at school.

 

“But I don’t understand!” Cora said about two weeks after they’d brought Dust home. Cas and Mary were cooking dinner, while the other kids did homework, and Dean and Ben talked quietly about plans for the next week. Cora had just spent a fruitless hour searching for the kitten. “Why doesn’t she want to be my friend?”

 

Dean winced. “Cats tend to have minds of their own, sweetheart. Dust just doesn’t like playing with dolls, like Casey doesn’t enjoy it.”

 

Cora’s expression was wistful. “Oh. I guess I understand. I really wanted her to be my friend, though.”

 

“Maybe when she’s not a kitten anymore,” Dean offered. “You might try playing with her by doing something she likes. Kittens like string.”

 

“I’ll try that,” Cora replied, running off, her typical sunny nature restored.

 

“That was neatly handled,” Cas said.

 

Dean glared at him. “I blame you for this, you know. You were the one who brought her home.”

 

“Well, she likes _you_ well enough,” Ben said, sounding amused. “We should have named her ‘Shadow,’ since she follows you around all the time.”

 

“I can’t help it if I’m irresistible,” Dean protested.

 

Mary’s hands sketched out a dismissal, and Cas and Ben both laughed. “You’re irresistible to me,” Cas said.

 

“Flatterer,” Dean said with a fond smile.

 

Dust came racing into the kitchen, and while her legs were still too short for her to leap directly onto Dean’s lap, she scrambled up his jeans easily enough, and from there found her perch on his shoulder.

 

Cora came racing into the kitchen a moment later, and skidded to a stop in front of Dean, looking at Dust in dismay. “I just want to play with you!” she said.

 

Dean felt terrible, but he knew there wasn’t anything he could do to force the kitten to play with Cora. Besides, Dust was huddling against his neck, purring like crazy.

 

“Maybe go a little slower,” Dean advised. “If you chase her, she’s just going to run.”

 

“But how else am I supposed to get close to her?” Cora asked.

 

Dean didn’t have an answer to that. “Sometimes, you can’t force a relationship. You just have to let things take their course.”

 

“But she’s supposed to be my kitty!” Cora protested.

 

Dean looked at Cas pleadingly.

 

Cas, the bastard, was clearly amused. “We’ll just have to get another cat,” he said. “I’ve heard that cats do better in pairs anyway.”

 

Dean couldn’t argue, not in front of Cora, but he glared at Cas, even though he knew that was about the only solution that had a hope of placating Cora.

 

Then again, it would be just his luck to find out that he was the cat whisperer, and whatever other cats they brought home would latch onto him as well.

 

“Maybe a slightly older cat,” Ben suggested. “You know, a fat one, that can’t run very fast.”

 

“Can he be orange?” Cora asked. “Because I want to name him Peaches.”

 

“We’ll keep an eye out,” Cas promised. “The next cat will be orange and you can name him anything you want.”

 

Cora seemed pacified by that promise, and Dust was a warm, fuzzy presence next to Dean’s ear, still purring loudly.

 

“I can’t believe you signed up for another cat,” Dean protested, once he was sure Cora was out of earshot.

 

Cas shrugged unrepentantly. “I think you should probably go with us next time. It would be ideal if the cat didn’t like you.”

 

Dean’s hand drifted up of its own accord to scratch under Dust’s chin. “That would probably be ideal, yes.”

 

“Don’t lie, Dad,” Ben said. “You like Dust.”

 

Dean gave him a look. “Well, not particularly, since it’s always gathering, and I’m not fond of dusting, but Dust Bunny here isn’t too bad.”

 

Dust nuzzled Dean’s ear and purrs even louder, as though agreeing with him.

**Author's Note:**

> And for the record, Cora will get her cat, an orange tom cat she names Peaches who kills small rodents and is absolutely devoted to her. I had a similar tom cat named Apricot who left me squirrel tails and thought I hung the moon. I still miss that cat.


End file.
